Deceit My Deception
by LolaCherryColaGirl
Summary: Saito needs Cobb, Eames, Ariadne and Arthur as well as the new chemist Alex for another job. This time it's an Extraction of a memory. But why won't Saito let them know what the memory is about? And what will it mean for Arthur and Ariadne? AA.
1. Going Nowhere

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Inception.

**Summary: **"There's always another job, Ariadne." "Are you always going to take it?" A new job for almost everyone on our favourite Dream Team. A/A.

**Warnings: **At some point in this story there will be foul language and mature content.

**Deceit My Deception**

Chapter One

_Going Nowhere_

The four mandatory days of 'lying low' since the Inception in an anonymous motel in downtown Los Angeles had finally passed for Ariadne. She stretched her arms and heard her shoulder pop as she walked out of the motel and felt the sun on her face for the first time since leaving LAX airport.

She had been told before leaving Paris already that her share of money would be wired to a Swiss bank account set up in her name. All the information was on a piece of paper at the bottom of her bag. The only thing she didn't know was how much.

Ariadne mulled the thought over as she walked around with no clear destination. The Inception had been her first experience working with Dream Sharing. It wasn't just a job to her. Not yet. She suspected with what was at stake, and with everything that had gone wrong, it wasn't to the rest of her team either. But they probably had an easier way of coping with it than she had.

She couldn't imagine Eames being reluctant to check his salary. Ariadne drifted into a small shop. She had never really had any sort of money. Well her parents had been middleclass and she had never missed anything either really, but she had never been rich. In fact, she was drowning in student's loans and hadn't been back in America since leaving for Paris, mostly due to the fact that she couldn't afford her ticket.

Now she would probably be able to buy everything in this shop. The man behind the counter derailed her from her train of thought. He stood with his young daughter on his arm and she giggled as she played with a snip of his turban. Ariadne smiled kindly at both of them as she walked to the counter. The little girl was cute and her deep, brown eyes connected with Ariadne's for a second.

She felt herself wave at the baby girl with three fingers, wondering where that came from. She had never been good with toddlers, growing up as an only child in a small family she was never really around them.

"What can I help you with, Miss?" the father asked, heavily accented.

Ariadne became flustered and nearly knocked a stand with postcards over. She had walked up there without anything in her hand or a clear idea of what she was getting, just because the money was on her mind. In the end she didn't buy everything in the shop. Just a five dollar paperback, a piece of chocolate and a bus ticket.

He gave her directions to the nearest bus stop while Ariadne dug around in her purse for enough cash to pay for her purchase. Having watched too many action movies, she didn't feel comfortable using her credit card yet since it could be traced. She wasn't exactly sure who would want to trace her credit card, but she was caught up in a mood.

"Here is three back." The man said when she had finally paid.

Ariadne crammed the change in her pocket and grabbed her stuff "Have a nice day," she read of his nametag "Mr. Rajid."

"You too, Miss." Mr. Rajid answered, already absorbed with his daughter again before Ariadne had even left the shop. Truth to be told this was the most conversation she had been engaged in for days.

Easily finding the bus stop, this wasn't her first time in Los Angeles, Ariadne sat on a bench and waited, clutching her bag in case she drifted off so she was sure no one could steal it without at least waking her up in the attempt. After all, this wasn't her first time in Los Angeles.

She didn't know why she was so exhausted. All she had done for the last four days was lie on the crappy motel bed watching bad television or staring at the cracks in the ceiling. She had food delivered once a day, mostly so no one would be suspicious, but until she saw that chocolate bar she hadn't actually been hungry.

Once the bus came Ariadne quickly found two empty seats next to each other and put her bag down in one, signalling for people to look elsewhere. She broke off a piece of the chocolate and savoured the taste while she opened the book she had bought. It was one of those predictable romance novels that came a dime a dozen. For once it suited her fine and she got so wrapped up in the forbidden relationship between a knight and a princess that she barely noticed the chauffeur's hazardous driving on the freeway.

Actually, Ariadne didn't put the book away until she knew that the next stop coming up was her own. What little that was left of her chocolate had melted on the forty-five minute drive. She threw the wrapping away and loosened the scarf around her neck before stuffing it down her bag along with her jacket. The sun finally got to her.

When she got off the bus Ariadne shielded her hazel eyes with the back of her hand and pushed her hair back as well, trying to ignore how sweaty she felt and how long it had been since she'd last washed her hair that had become greasy. She knew she was also looking pasty and that there were large, purple bags under her eyes.

At that moment, it didn't matter much though. Because the sight that lay before her was so beautiful. She could see a large portion of the San Diego skyline. This was where she had grown up. She had visited the historic monuments, the museums, enjoyed the architecture that could change in style around any corner.

It had been so long since she had been here, but now it all came back. The lousy restaurant her first boyfriend had taken her to, the public pool where her father taught her to swim, the small shop in a side alley where she had bought her prom dress. The quaint apartment complex where her parents had lived before her mother had gotten pregnant and they moved outside of the city to Pine Valley.

Taking it all in, Ariadne breathed deeply and felt her heart slowing down and some peace within for the first time in a long while. It had been the right decision to come here. But before she went home she knew she had to clean up. No one would believe she was just home for a visit and not because she was in trouble if she turned up like this.

Finding a public bathroom, and getting over her innate fear of them, Ariadne washed her face, sprayed on some perfume, put a little make-up on and tied her gross hair up in a ponytail. She had looked better, but at least it was an improvement. Outside she caught a local bus to Pine Valley.

Despite the calm she had found standing by the lonely bus stop looking out on San Diego, now her heart rate was speeding up again and her palms got sweaty from more than the sun. There it all was. Her old school, the hospital where her mother was a nurse and the different, local shops her father had done taxes for. She got off the bus earlier than she had to and rediscovered old childhood hideaways, waved at the waitress at a restaurant where her family had been coming since she was little and she even bought a milkshake from the ice-cream parlour where she used to spend most of her summers with her friends.

Standing by her front door at last, Ariadne's legs were shaking when she wondered how to approach this. She knew where the spare key was hidden but she would probably frighten someone if she let herself in. She could go around to the back and she would most likely find her mother tanning on the deck. Finally she decided on just ringing the doorbell. Even though she found it odd to do that at her own house

It was a generously sized house when they had been a family of three, two stories as well as an attic and a basement. There was a large backyard and the front looked idyllic with the well-kept lawn, the white boards on the garage and house, with blue shutters around the windows.

She could glance up at one of the windows that had belonged to her room. As far as she could tell it was still her curtains, candlesticks and other knickknacks she could see there.

Waiting for someone to open the door Ariadne smoothed her jeans out as well as she could and she was busy doing the same to her shirt, which had become wrinkled during the bus ride, when her mother opened the door.

Ariadne lost her breath. She looked exactly the same. Tan and lean with her dyed, blonde hair cut in a Marilyn Monroe hairstyle. Her teeth were slightly yellowed by too many cigarettes and coffee, her basic diet despite being a nurse. Her blue eyes looked slightly faded and it was obvious she was getting older even under all the make-up.

She was wearing a sheer robe over her bathing suit and high heeled slippers, like she was some old-time movie star. Because of that craving for fame her mother harboured Ariadne had never felt that close to her. Georgette Page, originally Christakos, had dreamed of becoming an actress, but in her family you married young and at nineteen she had married the five year senior Leroy Page. During their first year of marriage she got pregnant and that was really when her dream crashed. When Ariadne was old enough to start preschool Georgette had taken her nursing degree and began working at the local hospital.

Taking care of a child at home and senior citizens at work was a far cry from her dream of being an actress and living the lifestyle that came with the occupation. Slowly over the years she got more attached to her old movies and slithered further into a world in her head where this suburban married woman was just a role she was acting out.

Ariadne had a hard time understanding how her parents had fallen for each other, but wasn't surprised really that Leroy had been so smitten with Georgette. On a good day she was stunning and carried herself magnificently. In a way Ariadne was grateful for her mother's strange obsession. If she hadn't inherited that powerful imagination she might not have been as successful as an architect.

That choice of career she owed to her father though. Since she was little he had played with her, teaching her to build the most amazing things with Lego's and building blocks. He bought her an easel, watercolours, sketchbooks and everything else she might need. He was an accountant, a devoted family man, and he had a quiet demeanour.

When Ariadne was sixteen he passed away from a tumour in his brain. They had discovered it far too late and from the time they found out until he died Ariadne had no time to make peace with it, she barely had time to say goodbye. He had meant everything to her, he was her role model, her mentor, her whole world.

Georgette had showed up at the funeral in a dress that revealed her generous cleavage, also wearing a black hat with a veil that covered her eyes. As always she wore bright red lipstick and she made a show of sobbing hysterically and fainting into the arms of the minister.

Never before had Ariadne hated her mother like she did at that moment. That's when she knew she had to get out of their town, far away from all of it. She set her sights on attending Sorbonne, perfected her French and scored top grades. Her mother supported her decision by switching from smoking Sobranies to smoking Gitanes.

A lot of time had passed and now that the two were face to face again some was forgotten as well. Georgette's eyes welled up and Ariadne willingly hugged her.

"Moro mou, welcome home." Georgette sobbed, stroking Ariadne's hair and whispering 'Moro mou' over and over again. Ariadne never learned much Greek, but she knew that meant 'My baby'.

They walked inside the house that hadn't changed much since Ariadne had left it. It was kept light, but with occasional pangs of bright colours. All of the downstairs floor was open, with the living room coming first and walking through that you reached the dining room that had the kitchen off to the side. Almost the entire back of the house was glass doors leading into the beautiful backyard. It had both palm trees and exotic flowers.

"Why are you home, baby?" Georgette asked flustered, while she lit up a cigarette, she was back to Sobranies Ariadne noted. They looked dramatic with the gold against the black, especially between the brightly red painted lips. At the same time Georgette poured them both a glass of wine even though Ariadne declined, especially since it was only two PM, and fingered her fake, pearl necklace nervously.

Ariadne let her finger run up and down the stem of the wineglass "I just missed," she could hear her mother's sharp intake of breath, but Ariadne couldn't say it "it here." She finished. Georgette looked disappointed and Ariadne understood that, but she hadn't missed her mother.

"But it's in the middle of the semester, yes?" she had never let go of that affected accent.

Nodding Ariadne got up. It unnerved her the way Georgette kept moving, looking frazzled and with that sticky sweet smile on her face.

"I took a leave of absence, because I got a job." Well that was halfway true "We just finished, so since I was in Los Angeles I thought I should stop by here." Ariadne grabbed her bag and headed towards the stairs "Is it okay if I stay for a while?"

"Of course moro mou, of course. You can stay in your old room, baby."

Ariadne hated being called baby. And she was desperate to find out if her mind was playing tricks on her of it Georgette really did look nervous now. She only had one foot on the first step of the stairs when someone came walking down them.

"Who's here, honey?"

The man was only wearing cotton boxers, had a beer gut and a very hair corpus. Ariadne's face fell.

"Mom, who is this?" she asked, not even acknowledging the man who held out his hand for her to shake once he'd reached the bottom of the stairs. He had thick black hair and a moustache.

Georgette asked him to go and get cigarette "Baby please, don't you remember Jeff? Daddy's friend from the Treasure Trove Club?"

The Treasure Trove Club was really just a seedy bar one step above a strip joint. It was in San Diego and back when Ariadne had been in high-school some students snuck out at night to go there because they let everybody in as long as they bought something at the bar.

"Daddy would never be friends with someone from that place!" Ariadne insisted, literally quivering from anger and resisting the urge to scream and then run out, slamming the door. She wasn't fifteen anymore. And it was perfectly expectable that her mother would be dating. It was not however all right of her to piss on the memory of Ariadne's father.

Georgette grabbed Ariadne's upper arm "Be nice baby, and go say hello." she practically dragged her daughter to the kitchen. Ariadne pouted, but shook hands with the man during their awkward introduction. She was forced to stay for a while and answer questions about Paris, her education and this and that, before she could excuse herself and retire to her room.

She felt the exhaustion again and dragged herself up the stairs. On this floor were two bedrooms, a small office and a bathroom. Ariadne instantly headed into her old room, but it felt like another bomb was dropped on her.

Nothing had changed in there either. Her bed was even made with the same covers she had back when she'd lived there. They were red and had the white 'Coca Cola' logo strewn all about them. The room smelled a little musty, but that was really the only indication that time had passed.

The pale yellow wallpaper was still there, almost completely covered with cut out images from magazines, diplomas, pictures, old mementoes. Her easel still stood at the corner with old paint spots splattered across it. She picked up a picture frame from her desk. It was one of her and the group of friends she'd hung out with in school, all crammed in a photo booth and making silly faces.

Ariadne smiled and put it back down, instantly picking up another one. It was a framed concert ticket from when she'd seen Macy Gray in concert with her old boyfriend Davey. The CD was lying on the shelf of her bookcase next to the picture frame.

She picked it up as well, wondering if the CD was even still in the case, but beneath it lay another picture. It was of her and her father. Tears welled up in her eyes and she couldn't even look at the picture any longer. Both of them had looked so happy.

Sitting down on her bed she pulled up her knees buried her face in her pillow, quieting her sobs. Ariadne never really cried much and it was over quickly. But she was still lying, frozen on the bed, staring into the wall. She couldn't help but wonder if her father would be proud of her if he knew what she had been involved in.

0o0

All of the sudden weeks had passed by. Ariadne was surprised to discover she could still remember her dreams from time to time, but usually they didn't make sense or they were nightmares. She was never sure what the nightmares were about, mostly the feeling of it that lingered after she'd wake up, drenched in sweat and with marks in her palms from where her nails had dug in the skin.

Jeff was around the house more often than Ariadne cared for, but he was actually all right to be around, she reluctantly had to admit. Well compared to her mother anyhow, he didn't annoy her as much.

Every day when Georgette came home from work she would suggest to Ariadne that they do something fun. She was like a small child, unable to be still. For the most Ariadne refused and then her mother would call Jeff or one of her few girlfriends.

To her surprise a lot of Ariadne's old classmates and friends still lived in town, and once in a while if she was taking a walk she would bump into them. Each time she was left with the same feeling that she was much older than the rest of them. Mostly she passed her time by reading or catching up on some studying on her own. She couldn't find the passion to go back to Paris and her school.

She felt like she was on a time-out as long as she stayed in Pine Valley and for the moment that suited her. Despite her occasionally long nights she looked better than she had in a while, her complexion had taken well to the sun and due to Jeff's skill around a grill she had put on a little weight.

One day she came back from another walk around Pine Valley with a canvas. Her parents had moved there because it was the place nearest San Diego that had a small town feel to it and she took joy in peaking at the well-kept gardens and old buildings. That beautiful day had inspired her to pick up her paintbrushes again.

She was in the middle of deciding on a motif when her mother yelled for her "Baby, there's someone here to see you!"

Ariadne frowned. Who in the world would come to see her? She felt certain her mother was up to some sort of trick and stayed in her room. But it wasn't long before Georgette glided dramatically through the door "Baby, there is a handsome man waiting for you at the door."

She sounded giddy about it and tittered in excitement.

"Who is it?" Ariadne asked, following her mother downstairs, already embarrassed by the feathered robe Georgette was wearing with her high-heeled slippers and the cigarette dangling from her manicured fingers.

"He didn't say his name, but he looks very distinguished and wealthy?"

Hurrying up Ariadne passed her mother on the stairs. It was strange, but she only really knew one person who could maybe fit that description and would know to find her here.

"Davey?" she asked, opening the door and expecting to find her old boyfriend on the other side. Instead it was Arthur.

"Hello Ariadne." the Point Man said, adjusting the sleeve of his immaculate suit, that he apparently wore even though the sun was baking down on them.

They kissed the air next to each other's cheeks while Ariadne stumbled over various versions of 'hello'. Georgette offered to fetch something to drink and invited them to sit outside with her in the garden. But Arthur insisted on talking with Ariadne privately.

She took him to her room, feeling like a silly girl next to him, wearing denim cut-off's and a yellow, strappy top she had left behind when she'd moved out.

"How did you know to find me here?" Ariadne blurted as soon as she heard the door click shut behind them.

Arthur gave her that reserved smile "It's my job to know, Ariadne."

She rubbed her eyes, feeling a headache coming on. Why was he here?

He sat down on the very corner of her cluttered desk after glancing briefly at the empty canvas on her easel. Ariadne sat down on the bed, still trying to process the fact that Arthur was there. She had never thought she'd really see any of them again. The little bubble she had been hiding in had burst at his arrival.

"I'm here," Arthur began slowly "to ask you if you might be interested in doing another job for us. Saito needs us again. Not for another Inception, just an Extraction."

'_Just' an Extraction _Ariadne thought, stunned by his casual way of brushing that off as something easy.

"It would be you, me, Eames and Dom."

"Cobb, but," Ariadne was cut off by Arthur simply holding up a hand "You don't just retire from this occupation Ariadne. Saito made sure to set up for us here in Los Angeles so Dom can still be around his children. We don't have time to train another architect and since you know the ropes and the team we would much prefer you to finding someone else in the business. Besides you are very talented." she was still thrilled to receive a compliment from the perfectionist.

But even so, Ariadne couldn't answer him yet "What about Yusuf?" she stalled.

"He is out. But Eames has another Chemist at hand already, of course." Arthur explained and Ariadne's lips twitched at the face Arthur pulled when speaking of Eames.

"Saito insists that this is a pressing matter, so we are in a bit of a rush to at least get everyone together. But take tonight to make the decision. And don't forget what I told you, you don't just quit." Arthur finished, precise and to the point. Ariadne wasn't sure if he was warning her or trying to bait her to say yes.

He slipped her a business card "I am staying at a hotel in San Diego. If you are in, come by tomorrow at noon. Bring your bag," he nodded at the bag she still hadn't unpacked since her arrival "and Eames will forge some papers for your college to prolong your leave of absence."

Ariadne felt as if she had the wind knocked out of her. She thought she was done in this world, but now Arthur was sitting in her childhood room and explaining all of this to her, looking so out of place it all seemed like a surreal Salvador Dali painting.

Getting back up on his feet Arthur gave her shoulder a little squeeze on his way to the door "I can let myself out. But tell your mother goodbye from me. She is very," he thought about it "unique."

Grimacing Ariadne watched Arthur leave. She wanted to stop him and ask more questions, but something weighed her down. She head the front door open and close and was tempted to rush to her window and watch him leave, if only to be sure he had really been there.

But she could already her Georgette on the stairs.

"Did your gentleman friend leave already, baby? Who is he?"

Ariadne swallowed and found her voice "My boss from that job I told you about. He has another offer for me. I leave tomorrow at noon. If I take it." she added uncertainly. Georgette made a big scene of it, insisting on inviting Jeff over along with Ariadne's friends and other acquaintances for a goodbye party.

"Mom, I don't know if I am taking it yet, and even if I do I don't want a party."

Georgette sulked like a child, but left the room to let Ariadne think it over.

0o0

**A/N: **Hello all. I haven't written a multi-chaptered Inception fic yet, but this is my attempt. Let me know in a review if I should continue this or not. If I feel there's an interest I'll start on the next chapter. I have an idea of what the job is of course, but depending on the response I might make up something more detailed. Oh and also, since English isn't my first language if anyone is interested in being my beta, I would much appreciate to hear from you.

**X X X LolaCherryColaGirl**


	2. I Try

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Inception.

**Deceit My Deception**

Chapter Two

_I Try_

After dinner with Jeff and Georgette, Ariadne wandered off to think about Arthur's offer. She went way in the back of their garden and was thrilled when she discovered that her old tree house was still there. Her father had helped her make 'blue prints' before the two of them had built the tree house.

Even at a young age she had been overwhelmed by seeing the building she had designed come to life, solid enough to touch and play around in. A rope ladder hung down the tree and though it had gotten dirty and tough over the many years, Ariadne resolutely grabbed the ladder and began crawling up. Her palms had bloody scrapes from the rope by the time she got to the platform.

She wiped her hands off on her cut-off's and sat down on an abandoned pillow, kept company by various insects. Staring out of one of the little windows at the darkening sky Ariadne went over all of the pros and cons of taking the job. By the time she had considered every aspect of the offer she had lost track of how many pros and cons she had counted.

Climbing back down the rope ladder her scrapes began to bleed again, but Ariadne hardly noticed. She had made up her mind and when she crawled into bed, ignoring the sounds from her mother's bedroom, she easily drifted off to sleep.

The next morning was a chaotic blur. Ariadne woke up late, she couldn't decide what to pack because she had no idea how long she would be gone and she couldn't explain to Georgette and Jeff why she was so flustered since she was supposed to leave for a normal job.

Georgette wanted to make a delicious brunch, but she had never had much talent in a kitchen and there wasn't a whole lot of solid food in the fridge. In the end Jeff fried a couple of eggs and some ham while Georgette skipped out to the store to get a carton of milk that wasn't sour.

Ariadne had borrowed a suitcase and was dragging it downstairs when she smelled the food and began to feel nauseous.

"Sit down for a bite, baby." Georgette dragged out a chair from the dining room table, but Ariadne shook her head.

"Mom, I have to be there at noon, it's _very _important that I'm not late," she could only imagine Arthur's demeanour if she showed up late and her excuse was brunch with her mother and Jeff, "and I really have to hurry. Can you call me a cab while I get the rest of my stuff?"

Sniffing pathetically Georgette pretended to wipe her eyes "But baby, when am I going to see you again?"

Even though she was in a hurry Ariadne stopped and looked at her mother. Was she really upset? Maybe it wouldn't have to be years before she visited again. Jeff pulled Georgette close and whispered little, comforting words into her hair and Georgette clutched him dramatically.

Ariadne was reminded of her father's funeral and got a bad taste in her mouth. It was too late now for their relationship to change.

Looking over Georgette's wildly shaking shoulders Jeff promised to drive Ariadne.

Uncertain if she was allowed to let someone else see Arthur, and embarrassed by the thought of being dropped off by Jeff in his dirty truck, Ariadne declined the offer and called for the cab herself. Once it honked outside the house Ariadne hugged her mother goodbye and let her do all of her antics before gently shoving her away and avoided Jeff's hug by quickly shaking his hand.

The cabdriver helped her with her suitcase and once they left Pine Valley Ariadne felt like a weight was lifted off her shoulders. It was a short drive to Arthur's hotel, but for Ariadne it was a brief window where nothing troubled her. She was free of her mother and she didn't have to worry about doing another job in Dreams again.

The hotel was large, modern and looked expensive. She wasn't surprised at Arthur's choice. After she had paid her driver and gotten her luggage she stayed outside and looked around for him. She was wearing jeans, a white silk shirt and a red scarf tied loosely around her neck. If the hotel had a dress code she would feel silly walking in and asking for him in the reception dressed so casually and dragging her suitcase where one wheel was broken and the other one squealed loudly.

Also she had no clue what his last name was.

In the end though Ariadne felt self-conscious hanging around outside the hotel as well and she carefully ventured inside. To her relief Arthur waved two fingers at her from the reception. Ariadne hurried to him, pretending it wasn't her suitcase making noise.

"Hello."

"Hi." Ariadne tried a smile, but Arthur was absorbed in glaring at the slow receptionist. Finally she gave him back his bill, credit card and passport "We hope you had a pleasant stay Mr. Knight, and will come back soon to the,"

"Thank you, goodbye." Arthur cut her off, slipping everything into his briefcase and walking off instantly. Ariadne nearly tripped over her own feet to catch up "Is that really your name?"

After she'd asked Ariadne bit her lip. Arthur wasn't exactly the type of guy to joke around with and probably not at all about this around other people in a hotel lobby. He gave her a smile she couldn't decipher.

He didn't stop his long strides until they were outside the hotel again. Today he was wearing a Burberry trench coat over what she could only assume was another suit. She wondered how they were getting to Los Angeles. Probably not by bus.

"You know the cab I took, is still right over there?" she pointed out to be helpful. The corner's of Arthur's mouth twitched.

He lifted up her suitcase with ease "Our car is over there." He gave a nod and she followed him to the luxurious, black Bentley.

"Very low key." She commented sarcastically under her breath.

"I prefer to be comfortable."

Ariadne's cheeks were tinted pink and she quickly climbed inside the car, leaning back in the leather seats before buckling her seatbelt. The driver nodded to her and Arthur got in a fluid motion. As soon as his door shut, they were off.

"It's only noon now, what if I had been late?" she didn't know what had possessed her. For weeks she had been like a zombie and now she was getting sassy with the one guy who didn't appreciate it.

Turning on the air-condition Arthur barely acknowledged her "If you were going to be late, you wouldn't have come at all."

Pondering over that little quip both of them was silent for a long part of the ride. For Arthur it was natural, but Ariadne struggled. She was burning up inside from holding back all of her questions, both about the job but also about what everyone else had been up to.

They were getting closer to Los Angeles and Ariadne refused to walk into the meeting knowing absolutely nothing "So am I ever going to get any details?"

Arthur folded his newspaper neatly in his lap "I'm sorry Ariadne, but I don't have any."

"I thought they were your job?" Ariadne shot back, getting annoyed with him. She enjoyed working with Arthur a lot. He was dedicated, disciplined and a perfectionist. But on the personal front they got along, yes, but he wasn't her cup of tea. She had to hold on to the memory of their innocent kiss to remember he had another side to him than being the Point Man.

"We haven't started the job yet. And I don't know any details, Saito hasn't been sharing much."

"Oh."

When it seemed Ariadne had no more to add, Arthur opened his newspaper again. Ariadne sat besides him, stewing. A meet-and-greet didn't warrant the same excitement that she had felt when they were starting the last time. And she wished she had something to read, but she didn't want to pull her romance book out in front of Arthur. Even if she was dying to know if the knight would save the princess and how she would thank him.

At last they pulled to the side and when Arthur got out, Ariadne assumed they were at their destination. She secured her brown leather bag around her shoulder before getting her suitcase out of the trunk. When she turned around to find out in which direction Arthur was headed, she gasped "The Orpheum Theatre?"

Arthur nodded and noticed Ariadne's bloody palms. The handle of the suitcase had opened her scrapes from last night. He carried it for her again "You know Orpheum's music was supposed to have the ability to move mountains and,"

Ariadne cut him off when they walked inside a nothing less than impressive lobby "Yeah, I know, you don't need to tell me about Greek myths." she winked.

"No, I suppose not." he chuckled and watched Ariadne turn in a circle around herself while staring up at the ceiling.

"Wow, you know this is how a theatre is supposed to look. All old-timey and majestic."

Arthur held a door open for her "You have something to look forward to then, Saito asked us to meet him on the stage."

Even though tree men stood on the stage chatting it could hardly be heard in the giant room. Ariadne's breath was taken away from her. The theatre was a treat for any architect with all the intricate patterns cut in exquisite wood and painted gold. The room came complete with the heavy, red curtain that hung down on the back of the stage. Arthur sat her suitcase down before walking up on the stage and greeting Cobb, Eames and Saito.

Curiously Ariadne stopped noticing all the little details of the room and went up to her team instead. Saito reached her first and took her hands between his own "Hello Ariadne, I am happy you could join us." he said formally, but there was still warmth in his eyes.

When he let go of her hands, Cobb was right behind him. It was strange seeing him like this. Almost like meeting a teacher outside of school. After both of them tried for a hug three times they ended up patting each other on the shoulders.

Eames pushed himself off the wall he had been leaning against and opened his arms "Come on over, luv."

Like she was still a child Ariadne forgot about the rest of the people and jumped into his embrace. Her and Eames had shared several dreams when she was teaching him the layouts of the different levels for Inception and they had gotten close. He was the most open of the men on the team and she could easily touch him without being self-conscious about it, unlike with Arthur.

"Did you miss me little Architect?" he asked in his adorable British accent and Ariadne caught a whiff of his well-known leather jacket.

She nodded "Of course, what have you been up to?"

He still held her in his arms as they chatted away, oblivious to the looks the others were giving them. Eames had several younger sisters and to him Ariadne was just another one.

"Now that we're all caught up on our Forger's misdemeanours, maybe we could get started?" Arthur asked Saito, but it was clearly a hit at Eames. Ariadne giggled when Eames stuck his tongue out at Arthur who didn't notice.

"Alex isn't here yet." Eames pointed out.

"Alex?"

"The Chemist." Cobb answered and Eames nodded "Brilliant one, this one."

Saito was busy checking something on his state of the art phone and Cobb kept in the background, a mystery as always. He looked like himself, but still not. It was obvious being back with his children had done him good.

Eames shifted his arms around so Ariadne was hanging on his back "Did you put on weight?"

She slapped him lightly on his arm "Why are we meeting in a theatre? How did you even gain access?" Ariadne asked suspiciously. Saito looked up from the emails he was reading "I own it."

"Of course." Eames said and Ariadne smiled. She was happy Eames was there to keep the mood light. Saito looked busy, Arthur could be a statue as he and Cobb stood by each other now, chatting in a whisper. And Cobb never gave anything away.

"Sorry I am late!" a southern accent called out for them.

A tiny woman was walking through the rows of red velvet seats to the stage in a hurry. She looked like the all American girl with long, blonde curls, blue eyes and tan skin. She was really quite beautiful, even if she was only five feet two. Maybe a bit more because of her high heels.

"Gentlemen, this is Alexandra Stovall." Eames introduced the southern belle. Ariadne asked to be put down.

"It's nice to meet y'all." She smiled brightly. Her southern drawl was charming "I usually just go by Alex."

The men all introduced themselves and then Ariadne shook hands with the woman "Nice to meet you."

"You too, sugar."

Not really certain why, this annoyed Ariadne. She hadn't called anyone else sugar. Even if she was a girl and younger she was the architect after all, that should earn her a little respect. Especially from the new kid in class.

Arthur had of course checked her out as much as he had been able to in the short time he had been given to assemble a team "I hear you're a Johns Hopkins graduate as well?"

"That's right, top of my class." Despite her smile, her young age and her accent there was no doubt she had been competitive and that she was proud of her accomplishments.

"So," Saito began speaking and everyone fell quiet "the reason I have asked you all for your help is because I need a skilled Extractor." he glanced at Cobb whose face was closed off, but he did move his head a fraction of an inch as if to recognize Saito was talking about him.

"I have an employee in a high position who I am suspecting of being a double agent. I need proof that he is doing corporate espionage."

Cobb finally spoke "Saito with all due respect, you can easily find that out without performing an Extraction."

"I know, Mr. Cobb, I need you to do something else as well. I need you to steal a memory of his. Preferably without him ever finding out what has been done to him. His other employers may think to use this method of exploring his knowledge as well." Saito explained about the man's function in his global company and why he had raised suspicion.

Arthur interrupted "Saito have you had your employees trained to protect themselves in their Dreams?" apparently he had learned from Inception never to take this for granted.

Saito shook his head "No, but whoever he is working for as well may have. I am counting on you to find that out." he didn't need to add 'this time', everyone was already thinking it. Everyone except Alex who didn't dare interrupt. She didn't have a lot of experience with Dream Sharing yet, but saw it as the ultimate within her field, and clearly there was some history she was not supposed to be let it on.

Eames joined in also "This memory we're nicking, how important is it to him? Will his subconscious guard it heavily?"

Saito looked stern and his hands were folded behind his back "I do not know Mr. Eames. But you a hired as his new associate."

"Gotcha'." Eames nodded. Ariadne could see how he practically came alive at the prospect of impersonating someone else, the excitement, the thrill of possibly being caught.

Arthur was busy taking notes of all the details he would have to sort out when Cobb stopped Saito from speaking further "Is there something you are neglecting to tell us Saito? Because this seems too easy to have called us all together this fast and insisting on this team."

Looking insulted Saito turned "Mr Cobb, I assure you after getting hurt and ending up in Limbo, I am not doing this for a lark or withholding any information. I trust you people and that is why I have insisted on using you again."

Cobb's eyes were narrowed at Saito but he didn't speak. Arthur was frowning, at the moment it did seem like an amateur's job unless Thomas Whitley, their subject, had received training.

"From you Ariadne, I need you to design a level where he will feel safe, you will collaborate with Arthur and Mr. Eames on that. As for you Miss Stovall,"

The Chemist cut him off quickly "Alex, sir, I insist."

"Very well, Alex, you will come up with a sedative strong enough for the Extraction to be performed, but it should be unable to be traced. I am not taking any risks."

Alex nodded "I will do my best."

Saito addressed all of them again "I have closed down the theatre for the time being. This is where we will be working and doing practice runs. I have booked some rooms for you all at The Hollywood Roosevelt. You are designers and interior decorators I have hired for the renovation of the theatre."

"I will be staying in my own home with my children." Cobb insisted and Saito didn't object.

"But I will ask that tonight you have dinner in their excellent restaurant The Bridge to exchange ideas for 'the theatre'," Saito made air quotes "really I want you to divide the work-load between you all and Miss Stovall, excuse me, Alex I am having a lab set up for you here in the Green Room so I need a list of what you will be needing."

Alex nodded and it was clear from her expression that she was already mentally working on that list.

"Tomorrow we begin to work."

Saito already had his phone out and his briefcase in his hand "Mr. Rajid will be your driver and if it's any comfort he is also a trained assassin." Saito brushed it off as if it was nothing when Alex gasped.

Ariadne was busy figuring out why that name seemed so familiar.

"Thank you for the introduction Mr. Saito."

Looking in the direction of the voice Ariadne recognized the man "Hey, you're the guy from the kiosk!" she blurted out, pointing at him but still unable to register how he could be here.

"Indeed Miss Page, I have followed you since you left LAX airport. I also drove your cab to Mr. Knight's hotel and the Bentley here." Mr. Rajid revealed with a chuckle.

Arthur gently grasped Ariadne's elbow "We've had people betray us before."

Clearing his throat Eames shrugged an arm around Ariadne's shoulders "What Arthur here is trying to say is that we wanted to make sure nothing happened to you." he glared at Arthur over Ariadne's head.

Cobb was getting off the stage "I will see you all tonight for the dinner, 8 PM?" completely ignoring the friction between Eames and Arthur. He was used to it. Mr. Rajid lifted his hand that held the car keys but Cobb brushed past him "I can get home on my own."

Arthur and Ariadne began walking to the car and Mr. Rajid joined them, grabbing Ariadne's suitcase and helping to explain why he had been following her.

Alex and Eames were left on the stage. She was only twenty-five, but highly skilled and free of too many moral scruples. She and Eames had worked together once before. She smiled at him when they began leaving at a leisurely pace "Well they all seem very nice."

Eames nodded "Yeah that Saito is a right joker."

Rolling her stunning blue eyes Alex gave him a light bump with her shoulder "You know what I meant. They all seemed to like me. Are you we can't just tell them?"

Keeping her from walking any further by holding onto her arm Eames leaned forward and Alex stood on her toes while they kissed "Sorry, luv, but it's not a good idea to tell this particular team about our romance."

He was relieved when Alex settled for that answer and didn't demand to know why.

0o0

At the hotel Ariadne was impressed with her room, but by then she was so exhausted from new information all she managed was to dump her suitcase inside the spacious built-in wardrobe and head for the shower.

As it turned out there was a bathtub so large she could almost take a swim in it. Lying her phone down on the counter, safe distance from the burning hot bathwater, she pressed play and sunk herself down in the tub and hummed along softly while enjoying the complimentary bath products.

'_I try to say goodbye and I choke, try to walk away and I stumble, though I try to hide it, it's clear, my world crumbles when you are not near'_

She had loved Macy Gray since she'd first heard this song and the familiarity did her some good right now when her head was practically bursting from all of her thoughts. After shaving her legs she got out of the tub, she didn't want to risk being all wrinkled when she was meeting the rest of the team for dinner.

Ariadne knew at this hotel she couldn't just turn up in her jeans and boots and besides, she didn't want to look like a bum next to Alex who had worn a pretty navy-blue dress in the theatre. Who knew what she could pull out for a dinner.

Digging a pair of creased, black pants out from her suitcase she put them on with the white, silk shirt she had worn all day. Her other pair of shoes were a pair of white Nikes so she had to wear her solid brown boots. After blow drying her hair she put on a little make-up and was very pleased with the result.

The reservation was in Saito's name and to Ariadne's horror she found out she was the first down in the restaurant. She hated sitting alone like this, looking like someone who had been stood up at a date or something.

Cobb arrived, he had changed to an impressive looking suit and even wore a tie. Arthur was dressed immaculately of course and even Eames had change. He wasn't wearing a tie though. Like a proper lady, Alex arrived last with tousled blonde hair and in that 'little black dress' Ariadne made a mental note to acquire for herself.

Both Eames and Cobb complimented Alex and Ariadne was sent back to awkward teenage days where her friends were always prettier than her.

After each of them had ordered and exchanged empty pleasantries about the hotel, the weather and the view Arthur suggested that they all got down to business. Ariadne straightened up and noticed the little change in everyone else, they were paying attention now.

At least until Cobb interrupted Arthur "All of that will have to wait." the silence that fell on the table was deafening "First we have to find a way to put Saito under so we can be sure he's not holding out on us about anything."

**A/N: **Tadaa, second chapter done! I was dreading writing Cobb and that much Arthur so I hope I did alright. I was looking forward to adding Alex to the team though and suddenly she was in a relationship with Eames, that one surprised me. Thank you all for the interest and I hope you keep reviewing. I'm still wanting a beta if anyone's interested. Please review.

**X X X LolaCherryColaGirl**


	3. Back Under

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Inception.

**Deceit My Deception**

Chapter Three

_Back Under_

"But Cobb …" Ariadne was the first to speak after Cobb had dropped a bomb on the table. Unfortunately she didn't know what to say. The only thing she was really aware of was that her foot had fallen asleep and gone numb.

Cobb looked Ariadne in the eyes when she had begun to speak, as if daring her to continue. He had already decided that he wouldn't go ahead with the job at all if he couldn't get them to agree to his idea of putting Saito under before continuing with anything else.

Yes he did owe the man a lot, it was because of him that he could now go home to his children. But that didn't mean he trusted him completely yet, they hadn't known each other long enough for that at all. He could still be wary of Arthur from time to time.

Alex found her wits first "Look, Mr. Cobb, where I come from you don't plan something like this on your boss. It ain't right." Her blue eyes glanced around the table to find some back-up. But for obvious reasons Eames pretended not to notice, Ariadne was still frozen and Arthur just looked thoughtfully at Cobb.

He was twirling a silver fork "Dom, what do you think he is hiding?"

"I'm not sure yet, but I saw something in his eyes." Cobb shrugged, appearing as if it was nothing, but Arthur knew he wouldn't be planning this if he didn't have a good reason to. Most likely he was paranoid after the Inception.

"Look I asked Saito and if I thought he would go for it I would ask him if we could just make sure we had everything right by putting him under. But I'm fairly certain he won't agree to that. So we have to take matters into our own hands." Cobb had leaned forward as he spoke, aching to convince the others.

"I'm in." Ariadne said, startling herself. Despite the demon of Mal that Cobb had fought she trusted him though, in her opinion he was the best even if she didn't have experience with any other Extractors. Eames and Arthur declared to be in as well and Alex shrugged "Alright, but as far as I can tell Mr. Saito has horse sense, so it ain't going to be easy doing this without him finding out."

Arthur cleared his throat "Horse sense?"

"Means he's smart." Eames explained quickly and his old teammates looked at him in confusion.

Brushing him off Arthur's head was already spinning "Getting him to the theatre will be easy enough and perhaps there's a way to convince him to be put under for a practice run or something, when we'll actually perform the Extraction."

"Didn't you guys fail the time you worked for Cobol and you even went two layers deep?" Ariadne asked attentively. Arthur began to explain that situation to her, but Cobb broke up the conversation "I am fine with telling Saito afterwards. If we find something I'll have to confront him anyhow and if not I will take the blame."

Eames chimed in "Then I suggest when he get's to the theatre we knock him out and put him under, simple, easy to remember."

Ariadne looked shocked at the primitive suggestion while Cobb and Alex both shrugged "It's not a bad idea …"

After that their food was served and for a while they all enjoyed the excellent standard and delicious wine. The conversation flowed rather easily and outwardly they probably looked like an group of old friends catching up. Alex's accent got heavier as she explained about her hometown and the shock when she went out for her high school's Mathletes team instead of the position as head Cheerleader.

"My Mama got her wish though, I got the money for my tuition for the first year at Johns Hopkins by winning a beauty pageant."

Arthur had attended the prestigious college as well and they exchanged anecdotes while trying to figure out if they knew any of the same people or had any of the same professors. Eames made the occasional comment and played footsies with Alex underneath the table, hidden by the white linen cloth.

Meanwhile Cobb explained to Ariadne what sort of layer he expected. Even if he felt pretty certain that he was free of Mal now, he still didn't feel comfortable about knowing the exact layout "I will be the only one going under with Saito, Eames doesn't have the stealth this will demand."

"I heard that!"

"What about Arthur?" Ariadne asked, already mapping out the simple layer in her head, wondering if anybody would mind if she began drawing on the back of her napkin.

Cobb shook his head briefly "No, it could remind Saito of the first time we tried to Extract something from him." he cut a piece of his roasted chicken and was still chewing when Ariadne asked "Well then, what if I go under with you?"

His eyes were hard and when he spoke it was in a no-nonsense tone "This time you're the Architect, Ariadne. Nothing else."

She narrowed her hazel eyes at him, but didn't ask about it further. In a way she thought he might be saying it to keep her safe. But there was just no telling with Cobb. They figured out some more details together since Ariadne wouldn't be able to build a model of the layer she would have to rely on drawings. After their desserts had been served and devoured Ariadne excused herself and went up to her room to draw the simple office she and Cobb had agreed on.

When she finished her work it had gotten dark outside and her eyes hurt. She rubbed them with the back of her hands, tired after the extremely long day, but thrilled all the same. This was something she knew she could do and her confidence was slowly won back. When she walked into that theatre tomorrow as the Architect she could go head to head with anyone.

Before going to sleep Ariadne did something she hadn't done in a very long time. Maybe even too long. She got out her totem and flicked it over. It wasn't until after it fell over and nearly rolled off the nightstand that she discovered she had been holding her breath.

Shortly after she was fast asleep.

Some hours later a knocking interrupted her dream of speaking to someone who was completely faceless to her. After she woke up she remembered that Ariadne in the dream had wondered where the knocking could be coming from. She thought she might be losing her mind when she still heard it.

Walking blindly to the door that opened out into the hallway she tore it open "What?"

To her surprise it was Arthur on the other side.

"Hello Ariadne."

She glared at him. He was wearing black silk pyjamas with matching slippers and a royal blue robe tied around his waist and with a little white hanky stuffed in the breast pocket. His hair was slicked back as usual. She knew her own hair looked like an oversize bird nest and her grey sweatpants were so worn she could hardly hold them up anymore and the knees were worn thin and had holes in them.

"Arthur, why?" she whined, stepping aside to let him into the dark room. He switched on the ceiling lamp himself on his way in "I'm sorry if I woke you, I assumed you'd be up."

"Of course," Ariadne grumbled "it's three AM."

She sat on the foot of her bed and drew up her knees while Arthur flipped through the drawings she had been working on so devotedly only hours earlier. She hated that she was so interested in what he had to say about them. She was sure enough of her skills that she shouldn't need someone's praise to feel validated.

"Couldn't we have done this in the morning?" Ariadne finally yawned when it didn't seem like Arthur was going to leave the room anytime soon. She didn't know what he was looking for. Some of the drawings he passed right by and some he studied for minutes.

He gave her that smile again "Technically it is morning."

Ariadne rolled her eyes; she was in no mood for this when she had slept so little.

"Do you feel ready for tomorrow?" he asked, all business again.

Shrugging Ariadne nodded "Sure, I'm just teaching the layer to Cobb. Should be pretty easy compared to last time." Deliberately she sought out Arthur's gaze to see if he would be willing to talk about the Inception.

"In this world nothing is ever easy Ariadne, especially not for a beginner."

She wanted to retort to that remark more than anything, but Arthur moved on to a new subject so quickly she didn't have time "Since it would be too suspicious if we asked Rajid to drive us earlier, we have decided to meet in Alex's room tomorrow at seven. She will put you and Cobb under for five minutes, you shouldn't need more."

"Even if I'm only a beginner." She snapped.

He nodded "Even so. Goodnight Ariadne."

As soon as she heard the door shut behind him Ariadne set her alarm and threw herself back on the comfortable bed, falling asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

0o0

The next morning Ariadne woke up feeling fit for fight, even if she hadn't slept much. She checked her hotel room for any forgotten drawings before tugging on her brown boots and tying the mandatory scarf around her neck.

She put her key card for the room and her totem safely away in her leather bag before heading to Alex's room, trying to remember which number it was.

Confident she had found the right room Ariadne knocked on the door after checking her watch. She was a little early and hoped Alex wouldn't mind.

"Mornin' sugar." Alex smiled brightly despite the untimely hour and let Ariadne in.

She set the container with her drawings down next to the desk and quickly noted that the room was similar to her own, light coloured walls, hardwood floors, furniture in a rich, dark colour. The only difference really was the view from the balcony and the fact that Alex had a king-sized bed.

"Good morning, Alex, sorry I'm a little early." Ariadne quickly said before her mouth shaped into a perfect 'o' "Eames? Wow, you're up early, I didn't expect that." She winked at him. If anyone had dared be late back when they had been preparing for the Inception it was only Eames.

It was loud when he opened a silver metal case, sat on the foot on the bed colliding with the soft look of the silky covers in golden colours, revealing the PASIV "There's a first time for everything." he grinned.

Alex flitted about the room putting strewn about clothes away or opening a window "Last time we worked together he was a right snoozer too." She was dressed more casually than the day before in simple black slacks and an expensive looking top with a floral print.

Eames began defending himself and Ariadne looked over her drawings over one last time, enjoying their friendly bickering in the background as she made sure she had thought of everything. Cobb had asked to have a safe in the office because it had been effective last time he was Extracting something from Saito.

Alex was in the middle of threatening Eames that she would wake him up with a bucket of cold water when it knocked on the door again. Both Cobb and Arthur waited on the other side of the door.

"Good morning." they greeted in unison when Alex let them in.

Ariadne didn't even bother with looking their way "Yes, at _this _hour it's a good morning." she thought she heard Arthur chuckle, but she couldn't be sure. Cobb joined her to look at her work while Arthur stayed just inside the room, fidgeting with his silk tie in blue colours.

Yawning Eames joined him "Why are you here, you aren't going under with them or helping out with anything?"

Arthur frowned "It's nice to see you too Eames. You aren't doing anything for this little training session either, so I suppose we're here for the same reason."

His gaze quickly switched to Alex who was propping up pillows to make the bed comfortable for Ariadne and Cobb and he had to force himself not to smile when he shrugged "What reason would that be, darling?"

"Neither one of us can stay away."

Cobb straightened "Okay, we're ready." he gave a small wave of his hand towards Alex who began getting the PASIV ready. Using a hand on the small of her back Cobb guided Ariadne to the bed and saw to it that she was comfortable before lying down himself, next to her.

It was her first time Dream Sharing again after the Inception, he didn't know what to expect from the novice. Rolling up the sleeve of his shirt he looked at Alex "Very light, alright? I'll just shoot us if we want to come back early."

Giving them a crooked smile Eames called out "Have fun!"

Alex injected the sedative, then turned to glare at Eames "Have fun?"

"Better than break a leg."

0o0

_It was raining when Ariadne opened her eyes again. She didn't understand why, she hadn't felt she needed to use the bathroom before they went under. __The rain was heavy though, and freezing cold. She couldn't quite make out where she was but she had a sneaking suspicion it wasn't the office she had so meticulously drawn up._

_The weather blurred her vision, but she definitely knew she was on a large street of some sort or a boulevard. _

"_Cobb?" she yelled out, wiping her bangs out of her eyes, her hair and clothes already drenched. She immediately noticed there weren't too many Projections around._

"_Ariadne?" suddenly Cobb was in front of her, so close he was actually towering over her. He caught her arm in a firm grip "What happened?"_

_But Ariadne couldn't speak. She had noticed something behind Cobb who was trying to drag her under a marquee close by to dry a little, but she refused to move._

"_Ariadne," he spoke again hoping to bring her out of her catatonic state "why the hell are we on Broadway?"_

_Her red lips parted and moved as if she was speaking but no words came out. And he was close enough to tell it was because she couldn't find her voice and not just because of the dreadful weather. Finally he turned around to look in the direction she was staring at and frowned "Who is that?"_

_It was a large poster with a woman on it, a little old but still oddly beautiful with a striking resemblance to Marilyn Monroe. The curls were blonde, her luscious lips were painted red and a black and gold cigarette hung between them. One hand was coquettishly placed on the woman's hip. 'Georgette Christakos' the poster read in bold, red writing._

_A car suddenly began getting closer and Cobb found his strength to pull Ariadne with him, out of harms way. Another Projection was still out on the road, staring a the poster much like Ariadne had. _

_He shook her gently "What is this about?"_

"_It's my Mother." she whispered, still staring straight ahead but now it was at something only visible in her mind._

"_Oh no," Cobb ran a hand through his hair, raindrops still trailing down both of their faces "Ariadne I warned you. Don't take anything from memory. You've seen what can happen." he had decided not to discuss the subject of Mal with her, preferring to put it behind him, but at the same time he needed her to understand how badly everything could go._

_The few Projections around all began looking in their direction, except the one staring at the poster._

"_But she has never acted, I don't understand …" Ariadne looked more present now, frowning and shifting impatiently from one foot to the other. _

_Further away in the glorious landscape her mind had created Cobb could watch the buildings in the background change along with her mood, but the two of them still remained on Broadway. He had only let go of her for seconds when she screamed out "Daddy!" and ran towards the Projection on the road, staring at the poster of Georgette Christakos._

"_Ariadne, no!" Cobb set off after her, but it was too late. A car drove right into her and he knew that was her kick when suddenly she had disappeared. The Projection that apparently was Leroy Page didn't even look._

_With a deep sigh Cobb pulled out his gun from an inner pocket of his tan jacket and put it against his temple before he pulled the trigger._

"What in the Lord's name happened?" Alex asked, removing the thin needle from Cobb's arm as she could see the impatience raging in his eyes. He sat up on the bed and noticed that Arthur and Eames shared Alex's bewildered expression "Ariadne just ran out of here." Eames informed him.

Alex closed the PASIV and left to go get something from her bathroom.

Cobb cursed "Well it didn't exactly go as planned, she took something, from a memory of something." He paused and tried to remember the details "Georgette Christakos."

"Her Mother," Arthur instantly supplied the information "that was her maiden name, her family is Greek. She became Georgette Page when she married Leroy Page, Ariadne's Father."

"Is she connected to Broadway in some way or to the acting business?"

"Not to ruin Guess A Greek, but we have to meet Saito later, are we still planning to do an Extraction, Gents?" Eames wanted to know, glancing at the expensive silver watch fastened around his wrist. The silver looked even brighter and more expensive against his tan skin.

Arthur ignored him "She married Leroy straight out of school and she has been a nurse ever since, they live in Pine Valley near San Diego. I saw her when I visited Ariadne. Why Dom?"

"Visited or recruited?" Eames interrupted with a wink.

Cobb hesitated "I'll explain it later. Pack up the PASIV and Ariadne's drawings and prepare for our meeting at the theatre with Saito. I'll go talk to Ariadne before we leave."

Alex returned from the bathroom with something that looked like a first aid kit "No, this takes a woman Mr. Cobb, besides she tore her arm on the needle when she rushed out of here and I personally don't want to explain that to Mr. Saito. Y'all get out stuff ready while I take care of her."

She turned on her heel and left the room.

Cobb looked at Eames who flashed his hands in surrender "Hey, she's good at what she does, it's not my fault she can be a pain in the a-"

"Eames, please!" Arthur groaned.

0o0

By the time Mr. Rajid came by to pick up the team Alex hadn't gotten a single thing out of Ariadne about the mistake she had made, only a thank you after she had disinfected Ariadne's wound and bandaged it so it could be hidden by a long sleeved cardigan.

"Good morning." He said in his heavy accent, with a deep soothing voice that had such a calming affect Ariadne could almost forget he was a trained killer who had been following her. He was driving the Bentley limousine and held a door open "Mr. Saito wanted to make sure you would all be comfortable. And fit." he added with a little sparkle in his eyes.

Ariadne climbed in first, trying to ignore the guilt that was already gnawing away at her at the thought of what they were about to do. Saito had showered them with luxury and was counting on all of them to possibly save his business empire, to help him out. And they would betray that trust. She was becoming more and more convinced that this was all a bad idea, but of course with Mr. Rajid close by they couldn't the discuss it.

Alex was working on the list of what she would need for the lab Saito was having set up for her while Eames and Cobb reminisced about a job once upon a time and Arthur was absorbed in reading some sort of file but the brown cardboard brief didn't reveal anything.

It was a short ride and Saito was already at the theatre to meet them when they arrived. When they walked through the lobby Cobb came up on Ariadne's side, mumbling "Are you okay to go under again? Your Dream, your setting. I'll do the Extraction."

Ariadne nodded fiercely "I'll be fine."

They parted ways again but Ariadne barely had time to exhale before Saito was by her side, taking her small hands between his own in the same gesture he had used yesterday "Ariadne, I hope you aren't offended that I could only get you a room with a queen size bed. Unfortunately the Roosevelt didn't have enough king size superior rooms for all of you."

Forcing a chuckle Ariadne freed her hands "Saito please, that room is still bigger than my apartment."

He smiled "Oh, that's a relief. Excuse me." he wandered off to take a call and Ariadne let her tongue run over her teeth trying to figure out where the bad taste came from. Mostly because she didn't want to admit it to herself.

She turned in between a row of seats and found Cobb "Are you sure we should do this?"

Cobb straightened up and searched for his wallet, drawing out a picture "Look Ariadne, this is a new picture of James and Phillipa." He said it at a normal volume and made sure they didn't attract Saito's attention "That man is the reason I can see these beautiful faces, I would not do this if I didn't think it was necessary."

Ariadne looked at the picture, the little boy sulked clearly uncomfortable in his stiff clothes and the pose while his sister stood behind him smiling widely and revealing a missing front tooth. She handed it back to Cobb "They're beautiful."

As soon as Saito finished his call Alex cried out "Oh shoot! Silly ol' me, I forgot that list in the car. Mr. Rajid, would you be a dear and go get it for me?" she smiled and Ariadne was sure no man could've resisted her. Mr. Rajid bowed his head slightly "Of course, Miss Stovall."

"Alex." She corrected him, without thinking.

"Miss Stovall." Mr. Rajid insisted before leaving the room.

As soon as he was at a safe distance Ariadne closed her eyes and looked away when Eames punched Saito as Arthur looked the doors and Alex got the PASIV ready. Cobb guided Ariadne towards the stage in front of him "You ready?"

She nodded, but she didn't mean it. It was wrong what they were doing.

On the front row three seats had been made ready for them and Alex made quick words of slipping the needles into their arms, careful not to hurt Ariadne again. She wished them good luck before releasing the sedative for the second time that day and watched as they left reality.

0o0

_The rain was heavy and Cobb couldn't see much "Shit Ariadne, not again."_

**A/N: **I know, it's been so long. But I have a lot of good excuses. **1, **Obsession with a PS2 game. **2, **Made an 80's playlist ('_So come on baby, won't you show some class, why you wanna move so fast, we don't have to take our clothes off, to have a good time, oh no!')_ **3, **I had to finish reading The Help by Kathryn Stockett (Amazing book!) and then I got Juliet by Anne Fortier which I have been waiting for a long time and finally **4, **I've watched an entire season of NCIS, it was just so thrilling.

But I'm back! Hopefully I've gotten you curious and next chapter we'll see some Arthur/Ariadne moments. I would still love a beta! Please review!

**X X X LolaCherryColaGirl**


	4. Making Plans

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Inception.

**Deceit My Deception**

Chapter Four

_Making Plans_

"_So Mr. Cobb, you try try again?" Saito asked, already standing safely beneath a marquee, protecting himself against the heavy rain. _

_The marquee was grey and white, much like the rest of their surroundings even though Cobb recognized it as the Broadway Ariadne had created earlier during their test run. He ran his rough palm across his face, drops of water flying everywhere, but pointless none the less. The weather didn't change._

"_Rain like this is unusual for this time of year, isn't it?" Cobb asked Saito, hoping to get the man to believe that this was not a dream. But he could tell from the look in his eyes and his earlier comment that of course he knew._

_Saito took a small step to the side and swept his arm in a gesture inviting Cobb to join him on the dry spot "Do you really think after what I went through last time, what we went through, that I didn't train myself against Extractions?"_

_Cobb's eyes darted around the street searching for Ariadne. But her petite form was nowhere to be seen and he feared for her. If she started changing things like she had done before he didn't have long with Saito before his projections would get violent. He resisted the urge to grasp Saito by his lapels and threaten honesty out of him._

"_Mr. Saito, I have to ask you again, now that we are alone, are you holding something back?" Saito was about to speak, but Cobb cut him off "You say you've learned from last time, so you know we have to have all cards on the table." His torso leaned against Saito, his hands balled up into fists and he refused to break eye contact, needing to convey how important this was._

"_What I have not told you yet Mr. Cobb, I have kept hidden because I am embarrassed." Saito was polite as ever, and distant, so it was odd hearing those words from him. "It is a horrible secret that only Thomas Whitley knows about and that is why I cannot let him suspect that I think ill of him."_

_Unable to hold back, Cobb raised his voice "You _have _to tell me!"_

"_I can't!" Saito was yelling as well and somehow seeing that man lose his cool and looking scared, Cobb calmed down enough to let go of him and take a step back. _

"_This secret, is that what we are going to extract from Thomas Whitley?"_

_Saito nodded while straightening his tie and refusing to meet Cobb's eyes._

"_Will we find out when Eames and Arthur do their job or not until we do the Extraction?" Cobb's mind was working hard. Time was running out and he had to go and find Ariadne soon. Wherever she was her mood was changing, he could tell by the beautiful buildings in the horizon turning into ugly, industrial plants with dark smoke spiralling from the chimneys._

_Clearing his throat Saito spoke again "Probably not until you do the Extraction. Mr. Cobb, I am getting an idea."_

_Checking his simple watch, still fastened on his left wrist Cobb holds up a hand to keep Saito from speaking "We will discuss it once we are awake again. Right now, I need to look for Ariadne, it's important. If you don't want to come, hide from the projections somewhere until the sedative wears off." He was already walking down the street, but Saito caught up with him._

"_Ariadne? This is her dream?" he had worked with the Architect before, her landscapes were usually more spectacular. _

"_Yes it is, but something's wrong. This happened once before and I didn't find out why. Now I have to." He shot Saito a look, clearly telling him he was referring to something more than Ariadne's problem when they heard a scream._

_Both men turned a corner and ran towards the sounds of Ariadne's piercing screams. A large group of projections were crowding her, pushing, shoving and obviously hurting her. Cobb got out his gun to end the dream quickly, but lowered his arm just before pulling the trigger._

"_Mr. Cobb, I think it is time for us to leave." Saito observed, clearly uncomfortable watching the tiny girl being abused like she was._

"_Can you promise me you won't tell the others that Ariadne messed up again? I don't want them to know something isn't right with her until I know how to fix it." After everything she had done for him, he owed her this little gesture._

_Saito stretched his fingers "It's not a question of how to fix it, but of who can fix it Mr. Cobb. You should have Mr. Knight talk with her as soon as we get back."_

"_Arthur?"_

"_I am an old man Mr. Cobb, and I have been even older than this. I see things those children hardly notice. Let me wake up first and I will tell them that you and I have come to an understanding and send everyone back to the hotel. Mr. Knight will talk to Ariadne and you and I will come up with a plan."_

_Hesitating Cobb weighed his options. Saito was right, Arthur did act differently around Ariadne, but he wasn't sure it meant what Saito implied. And if it did he certainly wasn't going to push the two of them together, he knew the bad sides of such love stories. He failed to come up with an alternative though. Alex clearly hadn't had any luck this morning, Eames and Ariadne were already too close, and he doubted she would talk to him._

"_Alright Mr. Saito, deal." He agreed before quickly shooting Saito and then slowly counting to ten, giving Saito the time he would need to talk to the others before shooting Ariadne and himself for the second time that day._

When Ariadne opened her eyes, she was surprised Cobb wasn't by her side ready to strangle her for messing up so tremendously. She heard him wake up next to her, get on his feet and waited for it, but still nothing happened.

The stage lights were so bright they blinded her, the red velour fabric of the theatre chairs was impossibly soft against her bare arms and someone talked in the background. And that was it. No one yelled at her, demeaned her or held her accountable.

Carefully she pulled the needle out of her arm and got up from the seat, feeling a little lightheaded she kept one hand on the armrest as she listened in on the conversation between the rest of her team. But the only words she had time to catch were 'Return to the hotel', then Eames had his arm around her "Good to see you up, Sleepin' beauty!" he grinned as carefree as ever.

For once Ariadne was not in the mood for his behaviour and she shook his arm off of her while searching for Cobb's eyes, wanting to know how it had all gone down. She never saw him or Saito in the dream and neither one of them seemed angry with her. She had let one down and betrayed another. It didn't make any sense.

Beginning to feel more and more lightheaded as she remembered the dream, the same dream, Ariadne sat back down again in the closest seat and suddenly fell forward as she retched. Nothing besides spit came out, but Ariadne couldn't shake the feeling that she was about to vomit and held her stomach as the acid burned and sent her forward several more times.

She was vaguely aware how embarrassing it all were when Cobb grabbed Alex by her arm "What is in that sedative?" he demanded to know, loudly and his grip only tightened until Eames tore them apart "Get away from her Cobb! Alex knows what she's doing."

Arthur was helping Ariadne to her feet while Saito rushed to unlock the doors so Rajid could carry her to the car.

Cobb pointed at Ariadne "Look at her, something is obviously not right!"

"Calm down Mr. Cobb, please." Alex begged, now breaking up Cobb and Eames "Nothing out of the ordinary is in that sedative, and she didn't react to it this morning. Did everything go alright in the dream?"

Swallowing once, Cobb jumped up three steps "Everything went fine." he dismissed her, following the others to the car. Alex began packing up the PASIV while Eames exhaled heavily and stared at Cobb's retreating back.

"What do you suppose got into him?"

Sitting down, Alex shrugged her shoulders "I don't know, he cares for her doesn't he? I'm more worried about that girl."

Eames tangled their fingers before gently pulling Alex back up on her feet and stealing a kiss "That's what I love about you." he smiled, grabbing the handle of the PASIV while Alex stood still,

"Did you just say you love me?"

Sweat broke out on his forehead, Eames' eyes widened and his mouth hung open as he searched for words or sounds. He was just about to speak when Arthur stuck his head inside and yelled for them "Are you two coming, we're going back immediately?"

No one spoke in the car on the way to the hotel.

0o0

Ariadne felt like she was in and out of sleep constantly and had trouble figuring out what had been Dream Sharing, regular dreams and reality. This time she kept perfectly still after opening her eyes, discovering that she was somehow back in her hotel room and that everything was very dark around her.

Blindly she felt around on her nightstand for her wristwatch or alarm clock.

"The light seemed like it was hurting your eyes, so I closed the drapes."

"Arthur!" Ariadne burst out in surprise and quickly sat up, pulling the sheet around her. But it was too fast and the entire room spun around. She closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead to make it go away as she felt the mattress sink and obviously Arthur had moved next to her "Lie back and just take it slow, we don't want you getting sick again."

Hiding her head in her hands, Ariadne groaned "That really did happen?"

She was about to explain, apologize and rationalize when Arthur's smooth palm upon her forehead quickly shut her up. Even a touch as innocent as that felt good. His fingertips, short round nails, just barely grazed her skin until she felt Arthur relax into the movement and finally his hand was flat on her face. He slid it down her cheeks, touched lightly behind her ears and rested his knuckles against the back of her neck.

"You definitely don't have a fever." He diagnosed securely before he disappeared briefly to fetch her a glass of water that had been cooling in the black mini bar as well as some Aspirin.

Ariadne gratefully swallowed and sat up more straight, pretending as if nothing was wrong "So how did you get stuck babysitting me?"

Arthur pulled up the chair he had been resting in while waiting for Ariadne to wake up "Well, Eames is down at the bar, Alex just went into her room and slammed the door, and Dom and Saito rushed off into Dom's room."

"Oh," Ariadne breathed, a little disappointed that it wasn't by choice he kept her company "so are you the one who undressed me?" she tilted her chin up, denying to herself that she was beginning to act like a petulant child.

Refilling her water glass Arthur sat down once again "I simply took off your jeans, Ariadne. I didn't want you to be too restrained while you were asleep."

Unable to stop her behaviour Ariadne pouted as she played with a corner of her sheet, staring at it as she mumbled "I still feel violated."

Arthur seemed almost angry about the silly, none too serious, accusation "It's not different than me seeing you in a bikini and you should know by now I am perfectly capable of staying detached."

"Fine." Ariadne defiantly got out of her bed, her short fit legs stretching out before Arthur as she only wore her top and simple black hipsters. She swayed her hips in an exaggerated manner all the way to the bathroom.

The cool, smooth tiles felt good under her burning feet and after spending some time combing her hair out Ariadne dampened a washcloth and dapped her aching body, letting the little droplets drag trails where they wanted. Despite of the Aspirin supplied by Arthur, her headache was still pounding now that she was standing up and she struggled for the door, calling out "Arthur, I think I may have a fever after all."

She was expecting his slim, but ever strong arms to support her, wrap around her, his soft voice and that look that sometimes appeared in his eyes when she had done something good or said something clever.

But Arthur was nowhere to be found. Her room was empty.

Staggering to the cosy bed Ariadne curled up in a ball and suddenly wanted to cry. She felt the corners of her mouth dragging down and tried forcing the tears, but it wasn't happening and instead her shaking fingers closed around her water glass which she pressed to her forehead, enjoying the chilled flat surface. She shut her eyes tight and prayed to the gods for a night of dreamless sleep.

0o0

"I was a different man back then." Saito finished his story of the memory Cobb and his team were asked to steal. Early on he'd poured a scotch that was still standing forgotten on the mahogany desk, the amber liquid catching the rays of the sweltering sun outside. Neither man in the room paid attention to the beautiful surroundings though, one was busy staring at the other who had his eyes fixed upon the beige carpet with the intricate pattern he was standing on.

Cobb cleared his throat, politely warning the other man that his brief pause was about to be ended "Mr. Saito, we have all done things we regret. I know you are a good man now, but if you really will only let me know, then we have to come up with a plan of attack."

He offered the chair at the desk up for Saito before sitting down on the foot of the bed "See, extracting a memory is not the same as extracting information. We can't know if during this piece of his mind we steal was the first time he ever smelled garbage in the rain. If that piece of information is suddenly gone he will realize that something is missing. And then he'll get suspicious."

Saito ignored his vibrating phone that bounced lightly on the shiny surface of the desk "So how can it be done?"

"Well, the usual way to go about this is finding out if he could have told somebody. The mark usually goes to that person to verify the details that are left behind after the Extraction. Think of his mind as a roll of film; we're cutting a piece out but the last scene before the memory and the first one after will still be left there to give him some inkling of what is missing. There is no way to avoid this."

"So it is actually not possible to steal this memory? I am wasting my time and money right now?"

"Of course not Mr Saito. The mark will go to someone to verify that something happened in the missing piece of film, but because the memory no longer exists his interest and recollection of it will vanish after a couple of days." Cobb used his hands to help explain his point.

Looking defeated Saito asked "So to complete this he has to tell somebody?"

Cobb nodded and was about to speak until Saito startled him by standing up abruptly "No! If he tells anybody at GrenCorp, my legacy is ruined. My life, my business will be ruined."

"You said in the Dream that you had an idea?"

"I did. I was thinking that stealing a memory will be easier done by someone he trusts? I could hire you, so to speak, and you could get close to him before doing the Extraction?" Saito's tone was almost begging as he was clearly wishing the matter could stay as private as possible "You can be the person he tells."

Shaking his head regrettably, Cobb denied the notion "My return and clearance has been a public interest in this country, he will never trust an Extractor you hire who has had his face plastered in newspapers and on the television. But I do agree, it should be someone he trusts. In fact, I think it should be someone on this team. He shares his secret, we do the Extraction, he verifies some details that we want him to know and is kept occupied by his trustee until he has forgotten all about it."

"But who?" Saito wondered with furrowed brows before finally tasting his scotch.

0o0

Arthur returned to Ariadne's room with a chicken sandwich, some extra salted French fries and a freshly squeezed orange juice to keep her sugar and salt intake up while she was sick. While waiting for the order he had time to contemplate her sudden mood swing.

Sure she was a young girl, at least in his mind when he compared her to himself, but she had by his limited knowledge of teenage girls outgrown episodes of attention starving and sudden shifts of temperament.

Despite of that he liked the little Architect. She was intelligent, witty, creative as nothing he had ever seen. Better than Cobb, almost as good as Mal. And it hadn't escaped his attention that she was, as Eames had eloquently put it one night over a beer, a 'hot piece of arse'.

He had snatched her spare key card on his way out, but he still knocked before entering so he wouldn't scare the life out of her. It was his heart rate that increased though, when she didn't answer, even as he pounded harder on the door.

Quickly he let himself in and put the tray down as soon as possible, flicking on the lights and heading immediately for her bed "Ariadne?"

She had spilled water on her pillow and then dropped the glass it seemed, from the shattered pieces on the floor next to the bed. A light sheen of sweat glazed her forehead and he could hardly tell if she was breathing. He leaned all the way over her to put his ear next to her mouth to make sure she hadn't passed out, but every so often a small breath of air would tickle his skin.

Because she looked so in pain Arthur put the back of his hand against her cheek and this time there was no doubt in his mind that she _did _have a fever. In fact she was burning up. He stroked away the hazel strands of hair that clung to her sweaty temples "Little girl," he whispered, feeling like a pervert for ever thinking an indecent thought about her.

But it wasn't like he could help it! She was so natural and open during the time they had spent together that she had rapidly charmed her way past the barriers he always had up when he met new people. Eames was still knocking on the first one despite them having known each for years gradually.

He had stolen that kiss, in the middle of his toughest job ever, because she was distracting him from doing his best. A lot of good it had done, considering that even now, he wanted more. He desired her badly.

Someone knocked on the door to the room and he got up to let in the rest of his team and Saito.

"Mr. Saito and I have come to an agreement," Cobb started after inquiring about Ariadne's health "and we have figured out how we are going to go about this Extraction."

Arthur motioned for him to continue.

"We need Thomas Whitley to fall in love with Ariadne."

**A/N: **I didn't think I was going to continue this because of my lack of reviews, but one reviewer wanted me to, and some people have been favouriting this and putting it on their alert list. Besides a muse has bitten on to me, and won't let go until I tell some more of Arthur's and Ariadne's romance. Please do review.

**X X X LolaCherryColaGirl**


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